Repair Frustrations : What was your must frustrating repair?

Anyone who has worked on a vehicle has most likely run into some frustration. Whether a bolt has been cross threaded, the head rounded off of a fastener, have to do a hand stand to get to something, dealing with rust related problems, or some other kind of inconvenience (and there are plenty of them ).

So my question fellow members is... What is the most frustrating repair(s) you have made?

Nothing major for me in terms of something being broken. My only complaint is trying to remove/reinstall the spark plugs all the way back by the firewall. I've changed out the plugs twice on my truck and those rear plugs are no fun at all.

I think that the most frustrating repair I have done lately is u-joints on my 2003 yukon xl. I had a friend help me and he bent one of the ears on my driveshaft while I was in the house grabbing some beer. $300 later and a new drive shaft I learned my lesson when it comes to people "helping".(never leave tools with in sight and walk away!) Another one I am currently dealing with is the Power steering pump on my 05 xl. I ordered one from amazon, put it in, it ran for 30 seconds and popped. Then, it started whining like crazy and filled my power steering system and brake hydro booster with metal shavings. (New gear box and hydro boost installed a month before). I called amazon and they shipped me a replacement. I flushed the system with 3 gallons of fluid and put that one in, it lasted about 4 months and now makes a high pitched whine when slightly turning the wheel right while moving. Drives me nuts. So, again I have a replacement on the way. I just never figured that I would be putting on 3 power steering pumps in 4 months. You have to pull the alternator bracket to change it. Not a big deal, just annoying. Oh, and they have all been AC delco pumps.

In your case Pikey, it sounds more like AC Delco pumps are to be avoided, however, since you bought them from Amazon I have to say: I purchased my muffler through Amazon and it turned out to be the wrong size. I put all my truck info into Amazon and it told me what parts fit and what ones didn't. I tried to measure my exhaust pipes prior to ordering but never could get a good measure. Amazon insisted a 3" muffler fit and a 2.5" muffler did not. I ordered the 3" and when I went to match it up to my existing tubing, my stock tubing was 2.5". In the end it was nothing an adapter couldn't fix but I'm starting to wonder if Amazon isn't the best place to order auto parts from.

I got the part number from directly from GM. I search amazon and found it for $10 less than I could get it thru GM with an employee discount with no core charge and free 2 day shipping using prime. Gm only sells the pump as a reman also.

There have been plenty of pain in the arse jobs, some of which were 3 bolts to remove the part, but you couldnt get to a bolt. One that sticks out though is the tank vent solenoid on a 99 camaro. Part of the problem was the custom exhaust in the way for dropping the tank. But tried for a couple hours just to get the solenoid to release from the clip on the tank. Gave up and left it overnight, came out next morning and 10 minutes later it was out:grrrrrr:. yes the plugs on those cars are rediculously stupid to get by the firewall.

Agreed on the 4th gen f-body's, anytime we do anything like that on my firebird we just lift the body of the car up and drop the cradle. 6 bolts and bam on the floor, done it several times. I would never attempt a tune up with the engine in the car, you guys are brave!!

Replacing the passenger side blend door actuator in a 99-06 (and 07 classic) Silvy or Sierra. You have to disassemble the darn dash and dig deep into it ... and then work in a tiny space while flexing certain things in the dash... to remove 2 tiny bolts, get the actuator out, put a new one in, and replace said tiny bolts. 4-5 hours of labor to replace a part that, if located better, would take 5 mins to replace.

I have small hands, which helped me on this job, and I cursed a lot. I can't imagine someone with big 'ol monkey hands trying to do this. It's made worse in my truck by sound deadening material that has to be removed in order to disassemble the dash.